Putting The Ho-Ho-Ho Back In The Holidays After Divorce

Do the same with your friends and family. The biggest difficulties arise because we try to figure it all out ourselves and then foist our solution on other people as a done deal. Remember, you're all on the same side!

5. Enjoy the view. It's the journey! Whether the cookies are perfectly decorated, whether the presents are perfectly packaged, whether you celebrate Christmas on the day or the day after, it's not the practical details that matter in the end.

You have an opportunity to create a brand new holiday experience — remember to build in time and space to sit back and enjoy what you have — the connections, the shared memories, the dreams for the future. No change in family circumstances removes all of that — it just shifts it in possibly unexpected ways.

Being willing to create holiday traditions anew will be a huge help in the whole process of creating a civilized divorce — one that you and your children will be able to smoothly move beyond.